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Ignite 2018, the big change!

Hi Reader,

Change is in the air! That’s at least how I feel after reading up on all the things that were announced at the Microsoft Ignite 2018 event. I’m still wrapping my head around all that has been announced, but I also wanted to give you some insights on what will change for The Project Corner.

What was announced at Ignite 2018?

Apart from the information that was shared about better overall security, Microsoft Search and a even better Teams experience?

Well, only the biggest change for Microsoft Project and Project Online in YEARS!

I won’t go into detail here what these 3 items are. Mainly because there’s been great coverage by other bloggers that either attended the Ignite 2018 event, or were way faster than me to provide good coverage. And each item deserves their own post as soon as more information comes available.

And basically all other Project Bloggers have their piece on the changes that are coming.

So what’s the big deal?

During Ignite 2018 Microsoft announced that there will be no more big changes in Project Online. On the Q&A website that describes the vision of Project the following text makes this quite clear:

However, going forward, innovation will focus on the new Project service. We are committed to providing visibility into our release roadmap, so you can start planning your transition.

For all current Project Online users, there is no need to panic! The current environments will remain active for the foreseeable future. But they will not receive any major updates like the ones I describe in the UserVoice posts.

There’s a new chief in town, and we’re calling it the New Project Service (or just Project). This new service will keep a connection with Microsoft Project (the desktop client application) but will rely on a different structure and database .

One of the best things about the new Project? No more Publish and Check in required!

Biggest issue? There’s not that much data available on what to expect yet. And I hope they will launch a workable product instead of a Agile build what will improve but isn’t useful from the first iteration.

The changes for TPC

As you can imagine, I’m excited. This is a big change and a move towards a more modern way of working with projects. Currently I’m also a little skeptical but that’s in my nature.

As the changes come available in 2019 and forward I will continue to cover Project Online and Microsoft Project. But at some point my expertise will shift from Project Online towards the New Project Service as it has previously shifted from EPM 2007 to 2010 to Online.

I will continue to cover the Microsoft suite of Project, Portfolio and Work Management solutions.

Changes to the UserVoice posts

In the Microsoft communication so far, the company has stated to listen more to the community by leveraging (among other things) the UserVoice medium. Let’s hold Microsoft to that promise.

I’ll continue to work together with my fellow MVP’s to help and support the best ideas that come from the community, as soon as the new UserVoice pages are available.

The current improvements probably won’t make it into the Project Online product anymore. So I’ll stop tracking them, but I will make sure the new product has a similar UserVoice item if it isn’t fixed at the beginning of the product.

Final notes

I hope you share my enthusiasm for the future.

There’s big changes to be expected. And maybe that means that the services we as consultants provide will need to change as well. I really believe in Microsoft’s message. And I do think it’s correct in the idea that people will work the way they want to. It’s great to know this is now acknowledged and to some extend supported.

I hope you will continue reading my posts as we walk together to a bright future of Project, Portfolio and Work Management!